New to site, Pics of fel I am building

[dadjon]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to say that i found this web site by accident around Christmas time, and some of the projects on this site have inspired me to build my own Fel for my Craftsman 2 18HP. I started this project New Years day.
Here's a few pics of the progress my youngest son and I have made.

 

[flusher]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to say that i found this web site by accident around Christmas time, and some of the projects on this site have inspired me to build my own Fel for my Craftsman 2 18HP. I started this project New Years day.
Here's a few pics of the progress my youngest son and I have made.

Looks nice. Keep the photos coming.

 

[Kfbeal]

What do you use for hydraulics on lawn mowers or small garden tractors that don't have existing hydraulics?

 

[germ-X]

Looks nice. Keep the photos coming.

love to see more of your project. more horsepower coming? plans?

 

[dadjon]

Thanks everyone,

I am using a Vickers vane type Hydraulic pump I picked up at a local flea market for $10.00. It is a belt driven pump that will run off of the PTO shaft of the briggs. It puts out 7.5 GPM and up to 2000 PSI.
I have already rebuilt the briggs 18 hp. probably won't go any bigger with horse power right now. If the lift works out ok I am planning on buying a little bigger tractor with 4 wheel drive and modify the FEL to fit.
The only plans I have are in my head. I cut out card board templates of everything first before I cut any steel.
Heres a few more pics.The engine is bored 30 over with ported and polished intake manifold and homemade dual exhaust baffled mufflers. Just finished welding bucket up last night.

John.

I just realized that I should have put this thread in the build it yourself forum.
So I am going to post everything else in the build it yourself forum from now on. I would move whats here but don't know how.

 

[MossRoad]

I moved the post to this forum for you per your request.

 

[unioncreek]

Dadjon,

What are the dimensions on your bucket? Also whats the thickness on the plate for the bucket?

Bob

 

[Charlton John]

Dadjon, Welcome to TBN, Great site with lots of knowledgable friendly people here. Nice work on your FEL, good luck and keep us posted w/ the progress.

 

[Kfbeal]

Hi everyone,

and some of the projects on this site have inspired me to build my own Fel for my Craftsman 2 18HP.

Yea, these fine folks here have inspired me to spend more money building stuff than I had cared to before I visited.

Thanks everyone,

I am using a Vickers vane type Hydraulic pump I picked up at a local flea market for $10.00. It is a belt driven pump that will run off of the PTO shaft of the briggs.

Gotcha. I suppose you run that off of what the deck used to run off of?

 

[dadjon]

Thanks for the welcome,

I am always spending money on some kind of project. I just finished up a 5 year rebuild and modification of a 1956 Willys M38A1, so I am used to being broke.
My poor wife never gets anything. She is standing here and she told me to say that.
The bucket is 14" deep, 16" high, 40", wide and is built out of 1/4" plate. I haven't weighed it yet but it probably weighs about 100#.
Yes the pump will run off of the same magnetic PTO the mower deck ran on.

John.

 

[dadjon]

Hydraulic cylinders came in earlier this week. Got the mounting brackets for them made and tacked on. While i was waiting for the cylinders to ship my son and i repaired and painted the craftsman. I wanted to paint it the original color but i told my son he could paint it any color he wanted. He is an AC fan, so now it's painted AC orange.

Couple of pics.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

That is a fun looking project. Nice work! Don't forget to spoil your wife for Valentines day after spending all of the time out there in the shop.
You might want to put wheelie bars on the back of that thing with the work you did on that motor

 

[Kfbeal]

That looks nice and came along pretty quick.

The only problem I see isf the poor paint job. Were they out of JD Green? Rust-Oleum Farm Equipment Spray Paint, John Deere Green # 7435-830 by Rust-Oleum

Just kidding. It looks very nice. I grew up on Allis Chalmers so Orange has always been my favorite although my dad would probably slap me if he was alive when I purchased a John Deere.

 

[David Devuono]

Thats a nice looking tractor. You will have to post a video on Utube and send us the link so we can hear how it sounds. Since your plan it to eventually move the loader onto a bigger tractor some of these points might be mute....1/4 inch is very heavy plate for a 40" bucket. Even my old massey with like a 2" thick cast bell housing, typically has a loader subframe extending to the front of the tractor or rear axle. On my little loader I had to go both to the back and front after some welds started to break, though I did not have the full frame of your tractor. Does your hydralic pump come with a dual pully? What bore diameter are the lift arm cylinders?

 

[flusher]

Hydraulic cylinders came in earlier this week. Got the mounting brackets for them made and tacked on. While i was waiting for the cylinders to ship my son and i repaired and painted the craftsman. I wanted to paint it the original color but i told my son he could paint it any color he wanted. He is an AC fan, so now it's painted AC orange.

Couple of pics.

Looks real good. Also the welds. Stick? MIG?

 

[JoeL4330]

are you thinking of some counterweight on the rear? ...airing up the front tires to max allowable?

 

[dadjon]

Hey guys, This project has been coming along pretty fast because i've been unemployed since Christmas and supposed to go back to work sometime this month. Once I go back I usually don't have much time to work on projects.
All the steel was scrap or left over steel that was thrown in the dumpster at work, The 1/4" plate is heavy but I am a firm believer in overkill. The bucket weighs 145lbs. and the total weight of the frame, bucket, and mounting bracket is 256lbs. Most of the literature on manufactured loaders for GT tractors list their weight at 350lbs. to 400lbs. so mine is well below that even with a 1/4" bucket. All the welding was tacked with a wire feed welder and then everything was welded with a stick welder. The cylinders are 1 3/4" diameter with a 19 5/8" stroke. These give the loader an extended height of 7'8" to the bottom of the bucket. The hydraulic pump does have a duel pulley,I,ll take a picture of it if I ever remember. There will be about 350lbs. of counter weight on the rear and plan on putting bigger tires up front. John Deere green is ok but that's why my son chose AC orange. His best friends dad restores and shows John Deere tractors so he chose orange just to agitate his friend at the next steam show. The wife and I do have plans for valentines day, Shes going to help me sandblast the FEL frame and paint it. Just kidding, she just wants a night on the town.

John

 

[joes_427_vette]

Isn't it amazing what paint can do ? Looks great ! Where did you get the cylinders from? They look very close to the surplus center Lion brand ( page 50 ) This is what I'm looking at for mine. I wonder with 1" rams, 1 1/2" bore there is not alot of room for hydraulic oil to exert alot of force or lifting capacity. I want 1000 # of lift and I am curious if these can provide it.
My local hydraulic shop indicated it is a bad combination... 2" bore with a 1" cylinder would be a better combination. Now I'm back to looking for this combination.
I looked at a 790 JD with a factory loader and this unit had 1" rams with 2" outside diameter cylinders. Gallons per minute flow may also be the key. Too much fluid could produce a slow raise rate.
I should have this problem solved by the time my loader mounts are completed.

 

[flusher]

Hey guys, This project has been coming along pretty fast because i've been unemployed since Christmas and supposed to go back to work sometime this month. Once I go back I usually don't have much time to work on projects.
All the steel was scrap or left over steel that was thrown in the dumpster at work, The 1/4" plate is heavy but I am a firm believer in overkill. The bucket weighs 145lbs. and the total weight of the frame, bucket, and mounting bracket is 256lbs. Most of the literature on manufactured loaders for GT tractors list their weight at 350lbs. to 400lbs. so mine is well below that even with a 1/4" bucket. All the welding was tacked with a wire feed welder and then everything was welded with a stick welder. The cylinders are 1 3/4" diameter with a 19 5/8" stroke. These give the loader an extended height of 7'8" to the bottom of the bucket. The hydraulic pump does have a duel pulley,I,ll take a picture of it if I ever remember. There will be about 350lbs. of counter weight on the rear and plan on putting bigger tires up front. John Deere green is ok but that's why my son chose AC orange. His best friends dad restores and shows John Deere tractors so he chose orange just to agitate his friend at the next steam show. The wife and I do have plans for valentines day, Shes going to help me sandblast the FEL frame and paint it. Just kidding, she just wants a night on the town.

John

Hope your job situation works out for you.

I do my welding with a Hobart LX AC/DC stick welder usually 3/32 or 1/8 6013 rod on DC+ for 1/8" steel fab for lightly loaded structures. For structures that see heavy loads I use 7014 or 7018 rod. I have trouble getting good looking welds with 6011.

I have some 308 stainless rod that's supposed to be easy to use on mild steel. I plan to give this a try soon to see if I can get proficient with that rod.

You're fortunate to have a good source for scrap steel. I've searched the salvage yards around here with no luck. The good stuff was sent to China last year when scrap steel was going at $400/ton. Now the dealers won't take scrap since the price has dropped below $50/ton. I've been paying my metal distributor $1.60/lb to get the steel I need for my latest projects.

 

[David Devuono]

Only look at the Rod size when thinking of downforce. For lifting your pushing fluid against the full face of the piston. 1.5 inch piston will push 2,500 lbs at 1500 PSI. With two 1.5 inch cylinders I think you can expect about 500 lbs of lifting force at the bucket based on what my tractor with 1.5 inch cylinders can lift. I can lift the rear tires on my 1250 lb tractor (includes fel). I use 200lb counter weight. If John makes 2000 PSI he will be getting 9,000 lbs of push with two 1.75 inch cyl's. Handle with care!